Does stimulating various coping strategies alleviate loneliness? Results from an online friendship enrichment program

Loneliness stems from a mismatch between the social relationships one has and those one desires. Loneliness often has severe consequences for individuals and society. Recently, an online adaptation of the friendship enrichment program (FEP) was developed and tested to gain insight in its contribution to the alleviation of loneliness. Three loneliness coping strategies are introduced during the program: network development, adapting relationship standards, and reducing the importance of the discrepancy between actual and desired relationships. Data were collected among 239 participants aged 50-86. Loneliness was measured four times using a multi-item scale, and on various days with a single, direct question. Loneliness assessed with the scale declined during and after the program. Scores on loneliness assessed for a specific day, however, are more ambiguous. Despite the immediate positive effect of conducting assignments, we did not observe a decline in the single loneliness item score over the course of the program. The online FEP seems to reduce loneliness in general, but these effects are not visible on today's loneliness. Nevertheless, the online intervention to reduce loneliness is a valuable new contribution to the collection of loneliness interventions.

[Aging well in the 20th century: a psychosocial perspective]

Aging well refers to retaining or restoring well-being in the face of various age-related changes in later life. This process is influenced by the quality of social relationships and active adaptation to loss and change. According to recent studies from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, more older adults are maintaining relationships with friends, colleagues and other non-kin longer. Greater diversity in their social networks contributes to happiness and morale, and provides protection against anxiety, depression and loneliness. There is also a slight increase in mastery and in cognitive functioning among new cohorts of older adults. These developments promote adaptation to declines in health and loss of the partner. These improvements are found less frequently among those with lower education, lower incomes, and/or small networks. Several interventions have proven to be effective for these disadvantaged groups: a visiting service for widows and widowers and two self-management interventions for chronically ill or physically vulnerable older adults.

A latent class analysis of friendship network types and their predictors in the second half of life

OBJECTIVES

Friendships contribute uniquely to well-being in (late) adulthood. However, studies on friendship often ignore interindividual differences in friendship patterns. The aim of this study was to investigate such differences including their predictors.

METHOD

The study builds on Matthews's qualitative model of friendship styles. Matthews distinguished 3 approaches to friendship differing by number of friends, duration of friendships, and emotional closeness. We used latent class analysis to identify friendship network types in a sample of middle-aged and older adults aged 40-85 years (N = 1,876). Data came from the German Aging Survey (DEAS).

RESULTS

Our analysis revealed 4 distinct friendship network types that were in high congruence with Matthews's typology. We identified these as a discerning style, which focuses on few close relationships, an independent style, which refrains from close engagements, and 2 acquisitive styles that both acquire new friends across their whole life course but differ regarding the emotional closeness of their friendships. Socioeconomic status, gender, health, and network-disturbing and network-sustaining variables predicted affiliations with network types.

DISCUSSION

We argue that future studies should consider a holistic view of friendships in order to better understand the association between friendships and well-being in the second half of life.

Promotion of self-management in friendship

This study examines changes in self management abilities among women in a friendship enrichment programme. The study is based on the theory of self management of well-being which identifies relevant self-management skills as self-efficacy, taking initiative, investment behaviour and attaining variety in resources. An intervention group (N  =  60) and a control group (N = 55) were studied at a baseline, three months and nine months later. Results indicate that the programme is effective in stimulating two of the four self-management abilities. Compared to the control group, participants in the intervention showed greater increases in initiative taking and more investment behaviour in friendship. There was no change in self-efficacy or variety in friendship. We conclude that older adult women are able to improve some self-management abilities in friendship after participating in this programme. Important goals for future studies are to improve the measurement of self-efficacy and relate improvement in self-management to subjective well-being.

[Caring friends and neighbors as informal caregivers of older adults: A comparison with offspring]

This study compared informal care to older, non-coresiding adults provided by friends and neighbours and informal care by children or their partners. Using data from a Dutch representative survey among informal caregivers conducted by CBS and SCP, caregivers of friends (n=133), neighbours (n=108) and parents (n=1,008) were compared with one another to investigate care that friends and neighbours provide to the elderly non-coresiding adults (age 55 and over). Nine percent of those providing care to someone outside the household were friends and nine percent were neighbours. Friends, like children, usually provide long-lasting care, up to four or five years. Friends are similar to neighbours in the number of hours that they provide care. Friends and neighbours experience a lower caregiver burden than children. However, when fulfilling multiple caring tasks, both friends and children, have a greater chance of experiencing higher levels of burden. When there were other caregivers to help, friends experienced a small reduction in burden. Friends and neighbours deserve to be recognized as informal caregivers by policy makers and they deserve attention and support along with family caregivers.

Breaking the cycle of loneliness? Psychological effects of a friendship enrichment program for older women

The present study examines effects of participation in the friendship enrichment program, an intervention that is designed to stimulate improvement in friendship, self-esteem and subjective well-being, as well as reduction in loneliness among older women. The intervention group was compared to a control group of women who were interested in the program or in improving their friendships. All respondents had been studied at three points in time: at a baseline, prior to the program; three months later, and 9-10 months after baseline. The results indicate that the program was successful in attracting lonely older women who were willing to work on their friendships. Many participants reported improvement in the quantity and quality of their friendships. The program was moderately successful in stimulating improvement in subjective well-being and awareness of the need for an active stance toward achieving goals in social relations, especially in friendship. Loneliness among the participants was reduced, but it also declined in the control group, and both groups continued to experience loneliness. One conclusion is that an effective intervention to help older women reduce their loneliness should be multi-dimensional focusing not only on friendship but also on other personal and situational factors contributing to loneliness.

Meeting the Need to Belong: Predicting Effects of a Friendship Enrichment Program for Older Women

PURPOSE

This study explores the effects of participation in a program designed to enrich friendship and reduce loneliness among women in later life. Several hypotheses based on the need to belong, socioemotional selectivity theory, and the social compensation model were tested.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Study 1 involved two measurement points, one at the end of the program and the other 1-year later. Study 2 used a pretest-post-test control group design with a follow-up measurement. A combination of semistructured interviews and structured questionnaires was used to collect data. A comparison group was also drawn from a nationwide representative sample.

RESULTS

Participants were characterized by deprivation on the need to belong; that is, loss of a partner, higher levels of loneliness and negative affect, and lower positive affect compared with a nationwide representative sample of same-aged women. Participants were more likely than women in a control group to report the development of new friendships and an improvement in friendship. The combination of new and improved friendships contributed to a significant reduction in loneliness within a year. There was no evidence of satiation of the need to belong among those who did not expand or improve friendships. Loss of a partner had no influence on friendship development; however, age did. Older participants were less likely to improve friendships.

IMPLICATIONS

The action-oriented approach that focused on friendship development in this intervention might be applied to other goals considered important in later life (optimal health, autonomy, harmonious family relations).

[Adaptation to loss of partner in older widows. Typology]

In a study of fifty older widows living independently we examined whether or not these women had managed to fulfill their needs and desires in relationships several years after the husband's death. The ways in which the widows had achieved congruity on their relational needs (or standards) was also analyzed. A typology of four styles of adaptation has been developed based on two dimensions: 1) the amount of activity undertaken to maintain, intensify or initiate relationships, and 2) the amount of congruity experienced in reference to needs for intimacy. The four types have been described, as well as the variations in life satisfaction within each type. The most successful type of adaptation involves both an active stance in maintaining relationships and cognitive restructuring of ideals concerning intimacy.

[Effect of sex and sex role in later life. Report of a seminar by Prof. Margaret Hellie Huyck, April 1978]

During a seminar at the University of Nijmegen in Holland, Prof. Margaret Hellie Huyck examined the influence of sex and gender on development in the second half of life. She began by presenting a framework for analyzing problems during the phase of the life cycle. She then proceeded to examine the consequences of one's sex and sex role for love, friendship and intimacy, as well as for sexuality later in life. She also presented research evidence on the quality of marriage during the second half of the life cycle. Her discussion on personality changes in men and women at mid-life was more extensive and included consequences of these changes for mental health. Since research on these areas is scarce, many questions for research became evident in the course of the seminar. Prof. Huyck ended the seminar by comparing different visions on the development of men and women over the life cycle, including the model which she sees as ideal.